This is My life

Another yummy meal...

...at THIS place. Seriously yummy. The first time we went (a few months ago) I enjoyed it, but definitely not to its fullest.  I was in the midst of "morning" sickness and no food tasted very good.  In addition, we had three little kids with us which doesn't make for the most relaxed evening.

But last night we took my parents there and we left the boys at home with a friend.  And the food, which was good last time, was AMAZING this time. I have been seriously spoiled.  No meat will ever compare. I told Alaina on the way home that it is a pretty sad thing that the best meat she will ever eat was consumed when she was four. I spent most of the evening feasting on the house specialty, the top sirloin, but I did sample some of the other meats. If you are ever in Orlando (or any of the other cities that have this place) I would seriously recommend that you go.

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A few random pictures for you.  I haven't been downloading pictures off my camera as often because I am still not comfortable with iPhoto on my Mac.  However, I thought it was time to DL another batch and there are tons that I love. Here are just a few...

From our hotel last week...this one cracks me up.  Levi is known for pouncing on anyone who sits still long enough for him to get there.  He especially loves to hop on Alaina and Caleb.  A & C usually like it, though there are time they are NOT in the mood. Levi doesn't care...he just hops on, laughs, and then holds on for dear life.  Ahh...my little antagonist.

Here is another one with proof of the same...

I love this one of Cabe...we had just set a smaller tree in our house (the big one is in the big living room that we share with our boys) and he was just fascinated with it.  I snuck outside to snap a picture.

Here are two from opening gifts yesterday.  The kids had a blast getting presents from grandparents and I love the fact that Christmas gets broken up a bit so they don't get overwhelmed and can actually enjoy all the gifts they receive.

Caleb's favorite gift by far was a truck filled with cars.  He played with it to the exclusion of his other gifts and kept a close eye on it last night.  After we put the other two to bed (when we usually let Caleb have a little alone time to feed his introverted needs) he laid down on the floor with all his "stuff" (which now consists of a blankie, elly, two teddies, and a pillow) and his new truck and promptly fell asleep.  No need to dream when he has all he could ever want :)

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Now on to this weeks Digi Dare...

We are being featured in READY, SET, CREATE as one of the best challenge sites out there so we came up with a special dare this week.  We call it a dare collage...we each added a part to the dare that had to be on the LO.  This dare was hard for me because I am usually a fairly simple scrapper but in the end I was pleased that things weren't too overcrowded.  And, it was a LO I have been wanting to do.

Journaling: When I say, "I love you baby girl" you are quick to tell me that you are NOT a baby. But you don?t get it…you will ALWAYS be my baby. It doesn't matter that you are almost five. It won?t matter when you are twenty-five. You are and forever will be my baby girl. And baby girl, I LOVE you so much more than I can express. So just get used to it.

Credits: Papers by Gina Cabrera and Tracy Ann Robinson, photo corners by Shabby Princess, arrow templates by Janet Phillips, “I love you” doodle by Holly McCaig, “I love you tags” and stitching by Jessica Bolton, alphas by Kimberly Giarusso and Kate Teague, font is Mom’s Typewriter.

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I hope that everyone has a great weekend. We work this weekend so we will stay pretty busy but we will continue to enjoy this 80 degree December weather :)  

Egg Whites Only

LOL!  Seriously, my kids crack me up.  Lately they have been on an egg kick.  Any time they want to eat, they want eggs.  But not just any eggs, they want "egg whites only."  Now it sounds as if we have taught them well...taught them the dangers of high cholesterol and the wisdom in eating as healthy as possible.  Well, that's not just us.  Although I believe that health is very important I am more along the lines of "everything in moderation." Weight Watchers was very good at teaching me that in moderation, I can eat what I want and still stay healthy.

In any case, the kids "health kick" has much more to do with color than a early concern with cholesterol.  They just don't want the yellow.  Alaina is convinced that she doesn't like it and demands three egg whites fried. Caleb just follows suit.  And little Levi is still young enough that he just eats up whatever I hand him.  I am sure that won't last long.

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Today is our family day and we are excited.  My parents are coming into town today and we will spend a little time with them and celebrate Christmas.  Nothing big, just exchanging gifts and letting them spend some time with the kids.  We'll go out to dinner and just enjoy being together.  They live in Montana so our time with them isn't very often.  The kids are excited.

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I've been scrapping a bit lately but everything is for upcoming kits or challenges that I can't show you yet.  So I decided to do a quick page to show you.  We have so many amazing designers at Scrapbook Graphics so I decided to show off a little of their stuff.

This is one of the new templates by Jen Caputo. I also used a kit from one of our new designers, Baersgarten, called LAST CHRISTMAS. Cardboard overlay is by Linda GB at Scrapartist.

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Okay, sorry to cut this short but I have two kids crying and one kid who keeps saying, "Mom, help me with my egg??"

I'm one of those people....

...who never clean out their wallet.  I mean, I have to take out the bundles of receipts every once in a while otherwise I can't close it anymore.  But, I do not clean other stuff out.  Seriously...as in I still have my college ID card in my wallet.  And my first employment ID.  And my international student ID.  And the business card from the jeweler who made my wedding ring. 

I don't know...I guess it is all just sentimental.  I love opening it up and seeing little glimpses of my past. It's like having a little scrapbook right in front of me every time I go to pay for something.  I guess I just like nostalgia.

My Bible is the same way.  Every once in a while I stick something in my Bible that is important to me and I just leave it there.  I love looking through the pieces of paper (than inevitably fall on the floor) and think back to when I put it in there and what I was going through at the time.  It is probably why I don't ever get a new Bible...I don't want to give up the memories.  I bought this Bible back in 1998 when I was leaving for a semester in Israel.  Jason and I had just started dating and since then it has held all my special moments.  My spiritual moments.  Those "stones of remembrance."

So last night I was sitting in chapel with my boys and I was glancing through the random pieces of paper in there.  Lots of memories.  One of them was particularly what I needed right then though.  I love how God can prompt our hearts and spirits when we need it. 

The paper was some notes I had taken during a staff conference in Malaysia.  Our speaker was wonderful and made some points that hit home.  I wrote down his major points that day and so I thought I would share them with you.  Maybe God has something to say to you today.

1.  God is pleased with me.

2. God is not finished (satisfied) with me.  (Phil. 1:6). I am completely justified but not completely sanctified.

3. I have enough time and energy to do everything that I need to do today.  (We CAN meet God's expectations of us today...but not necessarily our spouses, kid's, students, etc.) So what does GOD expect of me today?  (Also, this doesn't mean that god will not put us in situations where we will fail).

4. I am not called to be successful; I am called to be faithful. ("Well done good faithful servant.")

5. God has called me to do more than I can do in my own strength.

6. My biggest challenge in life is..ME.  MY SIN.  ME. (NOT whatever I see to be my biggest problem...work, family, stress, sleep, etc).

7. I must learn to practice God's presence in every circumstance. (This is my lot and I will accept it).  Fits right in with my blog header, huh?

8. I must avoid time-wasters. (God worked six days and WHEN THE WORK WAS DONE, He rested.  What are my time wasters.  Be EFFICIENT with things and be EFFECTIVE with people. Always ask, "will this make me a better person?"

9. I must avoid energy-wasters (sin, anger, resentment, gossip, etc.) It saps our energy and our peace.  Most burnout isn't caused by overwork, it is caused by sin.

10. Consistency is the key.  Life is not a sprint, it is a marathon.  Each day...every day.

Lots for me to chew on...

Have a great day!

Just for fun...

I am taking an off day from blogging today.  My nap yesterday, which should have been about and hour and a half, turned into almost four hours and I got very little accomplished.  That needs to be rectified today so the blog needs a break.  But just for fun, here is proof of Alaina's favorite part of my new iMac...the photo booth and its special effects.  Aren't we pretty??

Have a great day!

Back to real life....

So after a wonderful long weekend, we are back to "real life."  I am caught between a list of things I NEED to do and a list of things I WANT to do.  There is some crossover, but really, I need to tackle list number one so I don't feel guilty about doing list number two. Just lots of little things...hair appointments, bills, dentist visits, Christmas shopping, etc. 

Anyway, we had a WONDERFUL weekend!  Getting away was exactly what we needed.  Just time to be together without the pressure of house cleaning, dishes, work, phone calls, etc. We really enjoyed being at the beach.  It is so wonderful to be able to drive an hour and really feel like we got away.  We saw cars that had obviously driven a long way to enjoy the warm Florida weather and we were again thankful that we LIVE here.

When we got to the beach on Friday the weather was quite chillly (at least for the beach).  That of course did not stop the kids from playing!  Doesn't it look COLD?  It was and I didn't stay long!

Saturday, on the other hand, was GORGEOUS!  We spent a few hours in the morning playing the pool.  There was a big waterfall that the kids (and Jason!) loved.

We then grabbed a quick lunch and  headed to the beach.  The  water was too chilly for my taste, but the kids loved it and I enjoyed sitting in the sun in the sand.

Not really sure what Caleb is doing here.  Jason built a "pool" that the kids loved to jump in.  But Caleb kept wanting to get his hair wet and then shake it off like a wet dog.  LOL!

So, it was a great few days.  When we got home we decorated for Christmas (or at least made a huge dent in it). The kids have been really excited to decorate the tree and to start filling those stockings!

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Thanks to everyone who picked up my holiday grab bag this weekend. I hope you enjoyed it!  I had a lot of fun making it.  If you missed it, some (not all) of the products are now available in my shop.  Happy Scrapping!

Black Friday

You know, I have never gone shopping on Black Friday.  Not once that I can remember.  The crowds, the chaos, the total insanity of all...it just doesn't appeal to me.  But for those of you who thrive on it (and I know there are many of you!): Enjoy your day!  Grab those deals, drink lots of coffee, and make a dent in your shopping list!

My day will be much more relaxed -- Jason is riding 60 miles to the beach and the kids and I will drive to meet him. Then two days relaxing in the sand and at the pool.  Totally needed!

While I am gone, here is a treat for you :)

And HERE is a link to my store :)

ETA:  Here is my LO for this weeks DIGI DARE...I'm hosting this week so come play with us!

Today is Black Friday, which here in the States is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. So, this weeks dare is all about SHOPPING!

We dare you to make a LO about shopping — it could be the best purchase you ever made, the worst purchase you ever made, a LO about where you do your shopping, or even a LO with a recent receipt! If it is about shopping, it is fair game!

DARE FLAIR:

* Since it is Black Friday, use something BLACK on your LO
* At least one photo/scan of an inanimate object
* A money symbol of some sort somewhere on your LO

Have a great weekend!

Let Us Give Thanks...

for my wonderful husband for...well, sooooo much

for my three (almost four!) amazing children who bring more happiness to my life than I ever thought possible

for a job/ministry that I love and see value in (even when the days are hard)

for the opportunity to live in Orlando right now and see the joy on my kids faces as they enter Disney on a regular basis.  at their age, it truly is a MAGICAL place.

for the opportunities I have had -- to live and travel so many places, to give birth to three kids in three different countries, to grasp with a realistic perspective what "every tribe, tongue, and nation" means

for coffee (and especially that coffee tastes good again after five months of it making me want to run the other direction)

for technology and the way it can enhance our life (if we don't let it overtake our life)

for creative ventures (like scrapping) and the ways it has made me come alive over the past two and a half years

for a business that I love and the fact that doing something I love so much (and believe in so much) can help our family do fun things we wouldn't normally be able to do

for the hundreds of AMAZING women I have met over the last two and a half years and how a common hobby can bond us.  I would list some of them but I don't know that my family would ever get to eat today if I started....

for this blog and the way it has allowed me to share my creativity, to share my story, and to meet women who share my love of scrapping and of God.

for the women (and men??) who read this blog and let me share my story -- the good AND the bad.  not all days are good but God is good ALL THE TIME

and SO much more...

like right now, for THIS which is on sale.  A quick trip there this morning means one more Christmas gift done and one special trip to Starbucks (something I rarely do)

I truly hope that you Thanksgiving day is filled with food, fun, family, and a special time to think about how thankful you are. so much good in life...why do so many of us focus on the bad?

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Be sure to stop back in tomorrow (or late tonight) for a post about a special this weekend in my Studio :)

Crafty Things...

I have always been a crafty person. I have always loved DOING things, MAKING things, INTERACTING with things.  I remember being in elementary school and just LOVING the teachers who offered a project option for assignments.  So, rather than take a test or write a report we could choose to do a project. One teacher in particular was amazing. We did a unit study on China and each of us was given a "menu" of points. We had to reach a certain number of points throughout the unit but we could choose how we earned them.  A certain number of points for taking a test, points for creating a map, points for doing a speech, etc.  Although I firmly believe that kids need to be exposed to all kinds of "testing" I do love the idea of letting kids learn (when possible) in the way that fits them best.  After all, this was 22 years ago and I remember it clearly. I also remember the flour and salt relief map of Marco Polo's travels that my mom and I made.

That said, I have always loved crafty and creative things.  When I was a senior in high school I convinced a group of people to join Odyssey of the Mind.  We won first place in the State and placed third in the world.  It was an amazing experience and it was the first time in my life that I realized that my creativity was a gift instead of something I needed to "work around" and ignore.

I guess that is why scrapping has fit so wonderfully into my life.  Ever since high school when I saw my first scrapbook page, I KNEW it was something I wanted to do.  I did pages here and there but for the most part, the ideas flowed more freely than the pages. The thought of getting everything out and putting everything away always discouraged me and in 12 years I probably did less than 50 or 60 pages. So when I found digital scrapping and (at the time) could do it in the one room in my house in Malaysia that had A/C, I was hooked.

But I still love to actually MAKE things..it has been fun over the last six months to dabble in hybrid scrapping...to mix the ease and endless possibilities of digi with the fun of getting hands dirty and making something out of nothing. I have also really loved having Alaina being older and really interested in crafting.  She would choose making crafts over almost anything.  And so, even though the crafts are pretty simplistic, it feels sooooo good to get an idea and see it come to life. And I love seeing Alaina be a part of it, loving the process as much as I do.

So here are a few things we have been doing lately.  Simplistic, yes.  Memorable, you bet!

First, a few quick fall decorations.  We picked these up for $1 at Michael's.  Love that everything is pre-cut and ready to go...works well with my almost five year old who has an attention span of almost five minutes.

I was reading Ali Edward's blog a week or so ago and saw her fun little Advent Boxes.  Our kids are finally old enough to start understanding Advent and all that the season entails, so I really wanted an Advent calendar of some sort.  I love that these are handmade and that they are bigger than most store-bought box-types.  I plan to fill each of them with a little symbol (hoping for tiny ornaments) and a little treat.

I bought these little boxes at Michael's for $1 each.  The squares are 2.5 inches and the circles are 3 in (the only sizes they had in stock).  I made the numbers digitally (Shabby Princess Holiday Joy papers and chipboard numbers) and then printed them.  I then mod-podged the top (with lots of help from Alaina).  Inside, I glued in that days verses to read.

I also saw some of these fun little button trees  on Ali's blog.  I decided to go a different route with this idea.  I bought green tissue paper and pearlized straight pins.  I crumpled up the paper and stuck it in the Styrofoam. Alaina helped too but this definitely proved to be beyond her attention-span.

I was thrilled with the final result.  So fun and oddly therapeutic!

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Alrighty...off to start my day.  I ended up spending almost all day yesterday out with Alaina.  We were just going to run to Walmart to pick up the tissue paper and straight pins, but we decided to go to the mall and do some Christmas shopping.  Feels good to have made a dent.  I always end up doing it last minute.  With more than a month to spare, my parents are done, one of my sisters is done, Jason's parents are half-way done, Alaina's gifts are planned, Caleb's are in research mode, and I have a few stocking stuffers purchased.  Do I get a gold star for being so on top of things?

Have a great day!

p.s.  This is my first entry done solely on my new computer...from importing my photos, to editing, to posting.  My laptop didn't even get turned on.  I am proud :) However, please excuse my photos and the coloring...I haven't calibrated my monitor yet and to *me* they look cloudy and soft, but I can't be sure it isn't just my monitor.

Baby Steps...

Yep, I am taking baby steps with learning my new toy :)

This is, mind you, after spending over three hours on the phone with various people trying to get my internet set up.  There was a lot of frustration, a few tears, and about ten phone calls with Apple, with our Internet Provider, and our modem company.  No one could offer a solution but each provided a small piece of the puzzle that eventually got put together right as the tears were really about to flow.  Thankfully, after trying something Jason suggested that I was sure was not going to work, my internet said it was connected.  At that point I hung up on Apple who kept telling me in that wonderful computer voice, "your call will be answered in the order it was received.  The wait time will be 15 minutes or more."

So, baby steps. Photoshop installed.  Fonts installed.  Firefox downloaded and bookmarks moved (I know I could use Safari but I have enough new things to learn right now). Hard drive interacting with the computer. My dashboard set up. Downloaded my first kit. Scrapped my first page.  BABY steps.

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Anyway...

Looking forward to the rest of this week.  Our boys go home tomorrow night and then we have four days off.  We will have Thanksgiving with some of the other staff on campus.  Then that afternoon we will decorate for Christmas. On Friday Jason is riding his bike 60 miles with some of the other guys to the beach.  We will then stay at the beach for two nights and come back Sunday afternoon, just in time to welcome our boys back. Should be fun.  I could use the vacation :)

So, as many of you know, Emily Merritt moved her digi good from the Digi Chick to Little Dreamer Designs. She put out a new kit yesterday and I got to play a bit last night.

Credits: BALMY CHRISTMAS by Emily Merritt at Little Dreamer Designs. Word art and brads by Shabby Princess (Holiday Magic).

Have a great Tuesday! Not sure what is on the agenda today. Whatever it is, I am ready for low-key :)

Merry Christmas to ME!

Oh yea, baby.  My new iMac. I keep saying to Jason, "Isn't it pretty?"

So, as I have mentioned (usually in my frustration), my beloved laptop has been having issues.  The issues continue to get worse. I have talked to the geek squad and they will need it for a few weeks.  However, the real problem is that I am pretty sure I work a laptop MUCH harder than was intended. I have spent many, many hours on this computer and it has been loved dearly.  However, doing some things has become extremely difficult, and because I use it so much, even after fixing it I will still more wear and tear on it than it really deserves.  So, I started thinking about a new computer.  Just thinking.

The problem is, I HATE learning new things.  Actually, I love learning, I just don't like feeling like a hopeless and incompetent person.  So, learning anything that takes time makes me want to run away.  I have heard such good things about Macs, especially from you die-hard Mac fans in the digi world, and I am generally aware of their superiority in many ways. But then I would have to learn something new.  And remember, I don't like that.

Actually, I learned computers on a mac.  But, when I got to college 12 years ago there wasn't a mac to be found so I was forced to learn a PC.  And in those 12 years macs have changed A LOT.

All that said, when it came down to looking at new computers there wasn't much of a choice.  If I bought another PC I would probably rip my hair out due to its many issues AND I would have to learn Vista (which I haven't heard anything good about).  So, if I have to learn something new I might as well learn the best. And thus the iMac.

I hadn't planned on doing it so soon, but Jason really wants my laptop and would like to get it before I kill it completely.  So with his encouragement I went ahead and bought one. It's so pretty!

I bought it on Friday but knew I wouldn't have time to do anything with it. So, like a good girl I kept it packed safely away in its box and waited until Saturday to see it in all its glory.  But after I got my desk all cleared off, moved my shelf up for its huge screen, and was ready to learn, I opened the box and realized that they gave me the wrong keyboard and mouse. Ugh.  No time to fix that.

So yesterday we went back to Mac store and after a few scary moments where I decided that maybe I wouldn't be a Mac lover after all, they gave me a new keyboard and mouse AND gave me the other ones back.  So now I have two keyboards and two mice, with the option of being wired or wireless.

So last night I finally could turn on this beautiful piece of machinery. Now mind you, I have no idea what to do with it, but I can turn it on. I haven't been able to get the internet hooked up on it, I can't figure out where all the options I used to be able to right click for are located, and I haven't been able to determine exactly how my external hard drive is going to work into all of this, but I can turn it on :) And I did get Photoshop installed, which we all know is one of the most important things :)

So if any of you Mac geniuses out there want to be my go-to person for help, let me know.  I will need plenty of advice!

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So, as promised, here is the "recipe" for brownie balls.  Actually, I heard about them last year from Andrea, but she talked about cake balls. I changed things up and turned them into brownie balls and they are beyond yummy!

Credits: pink paper by Shabby Miss Jenn, staple by Shabby Princess, notecard by Christy Lyle, fonts are Rebekah's Birthday, Mom's Typewriter, SP Wonderful Wendy, and Century Gothic.

And HERE is a full-resolution copy for you to DL if you want.

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And before I go, here is one LO I did this weekend.

Papers by Tracy Ann and Shabby Miss Jenn.  Alpha also by Shabby Miss Jen. Staples by Shabby Princess. Stitching by Lisa Whitney. Note paper by Christy Lyle. Date stamp by Amber Clegg. Font is Mom's Typewriter.

Have a great Monday!